Rating: NR

Cast: Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Hedda Hopper

Blurb: In its time, Sunset Boulevard was regarded as a searing exposé of Hollywood decadence and corruption. But to director Billy Wilder, it was actually a valentine to the faded glories of the silent-movie era. "We didn't need dialogue — we had faces," declares leading lady Gloria Swanson, whose rich, allusive performance brings silent diva Norma Desmond alive in all her tragic absurdity. William Holden gives a caustic, career-defining performance as hack screenwriter-turned-gigolo Joe Gillis, and the character roles played by directors Cecil B. DeMille and Erich von Stroheim hauntingly comment on the death of an art form. The Oscar-winning screenplay by Wilder, Charles Brackett, and D.M. Marshman Jr., is Hollywood's wittiest and most trenchant autocritique. Its luster was only enhanced when it later served as the basis for an Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical. - Joseph McBride, MrShowBiz.com